Here are the 100 most important words and phrases in the Malay language, which locally is referred to as Bahasa Melayu. While the vast majority (some say 70%) of Malaysians speak functional English, it doesn’t hurt to learn a few words, which will help you get by. Even if the Malaysian your speaking to has a grasp of English their pronunciation is not always good, so it can be difficult to understand them. Typically they can understand what you say more proficiently than speaking English back to you.

How to say hi and bye in Malay

Let’s start simple with greetings:

To say hi, you say hi
To say hello, you say Halo
To say goodbye you say selamat tinggal, which in a literal translation means happy stay.
To say good morning, use: selamat pagi (sounds like “pag-ee”)
To say good afternoon, use selamat tengah hari (sounds like “teen-gah har-ee”)
To say good evening, then say selamat petang (sounds like “puh-tong”)
And to finally say good night, you would say: selamat malam (sounds like “mah-lahm”)

Malay words that show good manners

How to say Hello! and Goodbye in Malaysian!
To say please, you would say sila

To say thank you, you’d say termia kasih (pron: teri-mah ka-see)
To say you are welcome, you’d say sama-sama

Meeting people

Here is how to say “My name is …” in Malaysian:

Nama saya ialah

Counting in Malaysian 

Here is translation of basic numbers

gosong (“go-song”) = zero
sato (“sat-too”) = one
dua (“doo-uhh”) = two
tiga (“tee-guh”) = three
empat (“um-paht”)= four
lima (“lee-muh”) = five
enam (“uhh-nom”) = six
tujuh (“too jew”)= = seven
lapan (“lah-pahn”) = eight
sembilan (pronounced “sem-bee-lan”) = nine
sepuluh (“seh-poo-loo”) = ten

Food words in Malay

Water = Air
Beer = Bir
Chicken = Ayam
Pork = Babi
Beef = Daging lembu
Steak = Stik
Fish = Ikan
Shrimp = Udang
Squid = Sotong
Crab = Ketam
Rice = Nasi (also Beras)
Fried = Goreng
Nasi Kandar = Mixed Rice
Nasi Lemak = Coconut milk-infused rice (“creamy rice”) dish served for breakfast
Lemak  = Fat, oily, but in the context of Nasi Lemak, it means “creamy”
Rendang = Spicy meat dish
Nasi Redang = Red rice

Malaysia is a country where people speak multiple languages, however the primary national language is known as Malaysian or some refer to it as simply Malay.

Bahasa Melayu

Malaysians refer to their language as Bahasa Melayu. Literally translated means “Malay language”. It is also sometimes referred to as Malaysian. This is spoken by the general population and is taught to school children. It is also the language of government.

English is the language of business

English is the language of business in Malaysia and the majority of Malaysians speak, or at least understand, some English. It is taught to children in school. It is common to see English on billboards, in retail outlets and in public advertising. So it is not difficult for English speakers to navigate Malaysia.

In Kuala Lumpur and larger cities like Johor Bahru, in the south of the Malaysian peninsula, almost everyone speaks some English, with varying levels of understanding and literacy. This is largely due to its proximity to Singapore, which has adopted English as its language of business, as well. Outside the urban areas, English is used less, although there is usually someone around who can communicate in English, especially in areas frequented by tourists.

Common languages in Malaysia

There are three primary ethnic groups in Malaysia and each one has a unique culture, heritage, and language.  They include ethnic Malays, Malay Chinese and Malay Indians. The Malay Chinese typically speak English, Malaysian, and one or more Chinese dialects. You will hear Mandarin, Cantonese, and Hokkien.

Indians tend to be Tamils and so they speak the Tamil language. That said, you will hear Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Punjabi and Gujarati, as well. The new generation of Indians have started mixing Malay and English words with their respective dialects.

In Sarawak and Sabah, which is Malaysian territory that consists of the northern part of the Island of Borneo, additional indigenous languages are spoken. Iban is the main tribal language in Sarawak while Dusunic and Kadazan languages are spoken by the natives in Sabah.

Across Malaysia, it is estimated that 137 languages are spoken by various groups.

The languages of expats

It is common to hear a variety of Western languages in areas of Kuala Lumpur frequented by expats. You will hear various accented English spoken by the British, Americans, Canadians, Australians and New Zealanders. It is also common to hear German, French or Spanish. Chinese expats living in Malaysia speak Mandarin. You will also hear Filipino and Indonesian, especially among domestic and agricultural workers.

Malenglish

Any English speaker will be bemused to see how Malaysians have adopted English as their second language and then blended it with Malay in some cases to make it recognizable, but not always linguistically orthodox. Often odd English phrases are used that would make puritanical English speaking copyeditors cringe and yet they are in common usage in public places. Some expats call this Malenglish.